France: Er, we are thoroughly committed to this 75% tax-on-the-rich thing. Sort of.

posted at 6:41 pm on September 7, 2012 by Erika Johnsen

“So, President Hollande: Now that the stark realities of actually implementing a 75 percent marginal tax rate on incomes above €1m a year, which you used as an overtly populist ploy to get yourself elected as the leader of the French Socialist party, are coming home to roost, what are your government’s intentions? Do you plan to stick with your promise even if it means driving every last millionaire from your shores, or convolute it with a bunch of loopholes to convince the wealth creators to stick around?”

President François Hollande’s socialist government was facing mounting questions on Thursday night over whether it was preparing to back down on its controversial 75 per cent marginal tax rate for the rich.

Responding to reports that the rate would be reduced to 67 per cent, that all non-salary income would be exempt and couples would only be exposed on joint income above €2m, officials said no decisions had yet been made on how the tax would be levied. …

But the government is determined to find a face-saving way of formally retaining the 75 per cent headline figure. “The 75 per cent rate will be applied,” said one official.

French business leaders have stepped up the pressure in recent weeks on Mr Hollande to limit the tax, fearing an exodus of top earners and a drought of foreign investors and managers willing to come to France.

Oh, but for the many dilemmas of actually converting rhetorical socialist dogma into action — what to do, what to do. Mr. Hollande’s promise to soak the rich was one of the more popular rallying cries of his campaign last spring, but seeing as how it’s a policy that any serious person can realize is obviously doomed to fail right from the get-go, he’s in a bit of pickle, and the government has to announce its decision before the 2013 budget is due in two weeks. But please, while the rest of the eurozone’s economies go into a downward spiral as a result of all of their spending-happy central planning, by all means double down on your free-enterprise-suppressing policies. I’m sure that this time, they’ll work.

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But the government is determined to find a face-saving way of formally retaining the 75 per cent headline figure. “The 75 per cent rate will be applied,” said one official.

Mr Hollande’s promise to impose the rate on incomes above €1m a year was one of the most popular moves of his campaign, helping him to defeat Nicolas Sarkozy, his centre-right predecessor, in the May election.

I’m not surprised. This is a man who can’t manage his private life and has no idea what ‘a private life’ means.

It does astonish me, though, that the French, so proud of the motto: Liberte, egalite, fraternite! have forgotten or abrogated the ‘Liberte’ part of that motto.

Although, they must feel a real sense of fraternite with the rest of the EU now that they want to make them share their paycheck with them. Hollande has said that he supports ‘fiscal union’ in the Eurozone, meaning resigning sovereignty so that the workers of the north support the profligate nations of the south and Brussels oversees the redistribution of wealth.

I’ll bet that makes the working stiff who’s busting his derriere up in Germany supporting the rest of the spendthrifts in the EU feel like he’s lost out on the egalite part, too.

“Liberte, egalite, fraternite! Now give me your paycheck… its so hard to be French on a budget!”

This is one of the benefits of having an EU. Just like companies are free to flee California for Texas, they are just as free to flee France for more friendly environs. Granted, such environs are harder to find, but I think the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia are more friendly to business than is France.

My man Ron Paul talked about how he was against a fence at the border because the government will eventually use it to keep us and our capital in the country. People laughed at him. Now look for France, and other tyrannical socialist nations to start making it more difficult for the rich to leave. As usual the old man was right, and it’s only a matter of time before Romney fails in his reelection bid and Obama turns straight up gangster in his second term. Things are gonna get ugly quick because now the President has tremendous liberty-destroying measures at his fingertips.

My man Ron Paul talked about how he was against a fence at the border because the government will eventually use it to keep us and our capital in the country. People laughed at him. Now look for France, and other tyrannical socialist nations to start making it more difficult for the rich to leave. As usual the old man was right, and it’s only a matter of time before Romney fails in his reelection bid and Obama turns straight up gangster in his second term. Things are gonna get ugly quick because now the President has tremendous liberty-destroying measures at his fingertips.

Fun future.

fatlibertarianinokc on September 7, 2012 at 9:04 PM

Well, if he does fail it will be at least partly because of temper tantrum throwing Ron Paul voters.

When soaking the rich eventually produces no more rich … what happens then?

darwin on September 7, 2012 at 6:47 PM

Then you have a totally socialistic country like Iceland where the taxes are so high that any young person who aspires to be successful leaves the country.The rest are left with drab mediocrity, if not poverty.